A t i s h e h. Dance. Fitness. Joy.
dance and fitness views and reviews
The first time Nadira Jamal ran her Rock the Routine course, I was there. I was also the mother of a three-month-old baby and had just moved to a new country, but I was there. So it was unlikely from the start that I would see it through, but I did work with the program … Continue reading Nadira Jamal’s Rock the Routine — reflection and a special offer
Belly Dance Drum Solos: Concepts for Dancers and Drummers is an intermediate/advanced level instructional DVD put out by dhavir productions. It also happens to be very, very good. It is rich in material, innovative in its pedagogy, and will give the intermediate or advanced student tons to work with. But let’s get one little thing out of the … Continue reading Review of Belly Dance Drum Solos with Mariyah and Faisal Zedan
Hmm…. I wonder who that busy, everyday woman in the title of Heather Wayman’s new DVD is? Look, dear readers, you know I try to write reviews that give you a sense of what it’s really like to work with a DVD. For a normal person. A regular, non-pro dancer, with a practice that goes … Continue reading Review of Heather Wayman’s Belly Dance for the Busy, Everyday Woman
The second episode of this season of Project Belly Dance was a grab-bag of reality show tricks and twists. You will dance — but not to your own music! Some people will be eliminated, but one will be voted back in! Another will be voted all the way to the finals! And, oh yeah, how … Continue reading Blogging Project Belly Dance: Season 2, Episode 2: On your toes, ladies!
Lately, I’ve been dealing with some challenges. How to navigate being a mom — even though my expectations of myself are not high, somehow they’re still too high for the reality. How to embrace my dancing where it is, skill-wise, rather than mourning the skills I don’t have. And in my own, real-life, for-money work, … Continue reading Against Rigidity: Some Inspirations for Improvisation
Every now and then you just have to go back to the basics. What’s the context? Well, there’s a bunch of context. I recently signed up for the launch of Nadira Jamal’s online program, Rock the Routine. It’s what she calls a “home study” course, and I’m doing it at my own sweet pace — … Continue reading Back to basics with Neon’s Instant Bellydancer
I recently started working with Carmine Guida’s Baby Beginner Doumbek Workshop, a super basic and gentle introduction to the doumbek. As I wrote in the earlier post, I don’t think it makes sense to try and learn all these rhythms in a day: for beginners as rhythmically-challenged as myself, that’s a hopeless proposition! Cross training … Continue reading Doumbek follies continue: it’s time to take off the wedding ring
